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hard drive data looks like hieroglyphics

I recently recieve an error on my laptop running windows xp pro:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM"

This started when it suddently lost power due to a battery issue.  I ran a chkdsk but received "volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable problems".  So i ran fixboot, then successfully ran chkdsk with no errors however, my laptop would still no boot to windows.  I decided to remove the hard drive and put it into an external usb sata device that would allow me to copy important files to another computer.  When the drive appears in file manager, all the folders and files look like hieroglyphics and i cannot open anything.

Any help would be reat.
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dbrunton
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>>  then successfully ran chkdsk with no errors

Was this just a check or a fix?

And download the hard disk manufacturer's util and run it over this disk.  And what partitions are on this hard disk?
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John
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K_Wilke

If the hard drive was not encrypted then you have a bad sector somewhere on your hard drive and it is probably close to where the boot.ini is located at.
I have encountered this many times and I use HDD Regenerator to fix this problem.  This fixes all hard drive errors, except for physical problems.
Go to http://www.dposoft.net/ 
and then click on the HDD Regenerator 2011.
You will have to pay for it to get the license key.
You will create a bootable CD or bottable diskette then you will boot to the CD or diskette.
Let this thing run.  It will take anywhere from 1 hour to 24 hours (depending upon the size and speed of the hard drive and also how many errors it encounters).
Thanks,
Kelly W.
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ASKER

Thinkpads_User,

You were correct.  I contacted the actual owner and he stated there is a product called Guardian Edge 7.2 installed.  He provided me the user name and password.  Is there a way with the enclosure and user name\password that i can get the files i need off?

dbrunton,

Just a check.  Also, the drive is a WD Scorpio Black.  I will try the WD site and see what utilities they have.
Or, did you have compression turned on by any chance?
The original message is probably indicating a registry problem of some type.

See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545 for more information on this.

Don't run the hard disk manufacturer's diagnostic software at this stage.

You may have to contact Symantec (who now own Guardian Edge) about the problem.  They may have a way of recovering the data.

>>> there is a product called Guardian Edge 7.2 installed

I agree with with dbrunton - do not do anything with this drive until you have contacted the manufacturer.

... Thinkpads_User
Compression is not turned on.  

Before i saw your post from today i download and ran the WD utility.  It stated there was bad sectors on the drive but that data on those sectors would be lost if repair was to continue.  I did not run repair.
As I stated run the HDD Regenerator.
It will repair ALL bad sectors unless the sector has a physical problem (ie the read/write head actually crashed into one of the platters).
You will NEVER lose data (at least I haven't in the past 11 years that I have used the different versions of this utility).
This utility is a must have for ANY technician.
Thanks,
Kelly W.
The hard drive has software that has apparently encrypted it, which is why the files cannot be seen. Will your suggested program work through that?   ... Thinkpads_User
It is independent of the OS so I would assume yes:
http://www.dposoft.net/#b_hddhid
but I would contact the HDD Regenerator manufacturer and pose that question.
Thanks,
Kelly W.
k_wilke,

when you say repair, if it use this utility will i still need to copy off the files and restore windows due to my initial error?  I'm assuming the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM" will still be corrupt.  Am i only fixing the hard drive hardware?
Yes you will only be fixing the hard drive hardware, BUT sometimes the location of the file and/or folder over a bad sector causes this problem and sometimes I have seen the corruption go away when the bad sector is fixed.
Thanks,
Kelly W.
Purchasing the HDD Regenerator turned out to not work.  I first tried the trial and it told me i had bad sectors.  Made purchase and ran again, but second scan said no bad secors found and nothing repaired.
Bummer.  I am sorry about that.
Thanks,
Kelly W.
I've requested that this question be deleted for the following reason:

This question has been classified as abandoned and is closed as part of the Cleanup Program. See the recommendation for more details.
I believe I gave the initial correct answer (#35710496) and trademark16 acknowledged (#35710702).
... Thinkpads_User
agreed.. points should be awarded to these two above